“Murdered by Piece-Meal”: The Destruction of African American Family in Beloved

Abstract

On July 23, 2008, CNN aired an investigative expose on the state of black culture in American society called “Black in America.”¹ A two-part series hosted by Soledad O’Brien, the show divided its investigation between two sections: “The Black Woman and Family” and “The Black Man.” The accompanying website, similarly divided, lists a variety of issues under Black Woman and Family; notably questions of divorce, singlehood, and single-parent, female-headed households show themselves as the recurrent, if not the predominant, concerns of the section. Further, a panel discussion titled “Keeping it real: Sisters and brothers talk about modern love and marriage” illustrates the series’ motif. Timothy Jones, for instance, notes that “Today’s society, black men and women, it’s almost like you’re pitted against each other. Black men against black women, black women against black men. ‘Oh I’m better than you are and I don’t need you. Well I don’t need you, I can go find someone better than you.’ … It’s always adversarial.” While Jones’s comment despairs of the disconnection between the genders, many of his peers laid specific blame based on gender. For instance, Jamie Coleman observes that in comparison to black women, “A lot of white women, they know their role … they know what they’re supposed to do and they do that. How many black soccer moms do you see?

It was a bitter thing to siphon your being from someone else.

Charles Johnson, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Advocates of slavery argued that the patriarchal system was good for everyone.

Kari Winter, Subjects of Slavery, Agents of Change